Letters to the Editor for June 17, 2013

Reporter-Telegram

Published 8:23 pm, Sunday, June 16, 2013

How to improve discipline? No excuses

The recent increase in disruptive behavior in Midland schools is alarming. According to a Reporter-Telegram article, MISD Superintendent Ryder Warren and MISD Police Chief David Colburn have plans to restore discipline.

I hope these plans include getting the parents or parent totally involved, because the family unit is the bulwark of civilized behavior. I strongly suggest that if a student causes disruption in the classroom, his parents be called to pick up the student and take him/her home for parental discipline. If the student causes more problems, he/she will be expelled from school. The students who come to school, behave and have a desire to learn must not be victimized by the bad behavior of a few.

The whole Midland community must push for a policy of no tolerance for disruptive behavior. This problem has been going on too long; it’s time for action.

Not too long ago, classroom disruptions were virtually non-existent because it simply was not tolerated. Any serious disruption meant expulsion from school. So you see, good schools with good leadership and good rules will let teachers do their jobs of teaching instead of doing the parents’ job of discipline. The parents are responsible for the conduct of their children -- no excuses.

Frank Qualia

How about banning water bottles?

The Midland City Council is looking into a ban on plastic shopping bags. I wonder if there is any interest in banning plastic water bottles? They are everywhere.

Paul T. Brown

Do away with the economic waste

At the recent Exxon-Mobil shareholder’s meeting, CEO Rex Tillerson explained that low natural gas prices played a significant part in the company’s lower-than-projected profit for 2012. This condition exists throughout the industry. We all know that on an equivalent btu basis an mcf of gas should sell at about 1/6 the price of a barrel of crude oil. With oil at $90/bbl, gas is worth $15/mcf, not the price of less than $4. Present prices amount to economic waste. Industry leaders should take a stand on this, demand higher prices for their gas, and/or shut in their wells until a satisfactory price is received.

Precedent for this was established in Oklahoma in the mid-1950s. Livingston Oil Co. operated a field near Enid, Okla., that had been under pressure maintenance by produced gas for years. When time came for blowdown and gas was available for sale, the best price they were offered was 5 cents/mcf (about average for the time; and oil was about $2.25/bbl). Therefore, gas should have been 35 cents/mcf.

The concept of economic waste was developed by an attorney who had represented Livingston Oil in several cases before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (Oklahoma’s RRC). The case was heard. The commission agreed, and then ordered that all production be stopped, by withdrawing their allowable. A contract was then obtained at 11 cents/mcf. The 6-cent increase was helpful in this case. More significant was the fact that a state regulatory body was willing to consider economics in a situation that helped the producer. This new thinking led to more intelligent well spacing and resulted in a more vigorous industry that exists today.

Selling gas at today’s prices is economic waste when it will cost at least $10/mcf to replace.

Robert Neely

Houston

Want to remake downtown? Be pragmatic

This is my third letter concerning the proposed Energy Tower for downtown Midland, and I no more like this idea now than I did when I wrote the previous two. In fact, based upon some additional information that has been released, I am now more certain than ever this tower is a bad idea.

First, how can Midland be assured that the developers will actually deliver what has been promised? Already, we have seen that the hypothetical costs are fluid, plus there is an implication that funding sources have not been solidified yet. The only real oversight that Midland will have once construction begins will be the Code Administration Office. After the Blue Ridge Apartment complex snafu, just how certain can we be that it will be able to properly monitor a 53-story construction site that will close downtown completely?

Second, with a mixed-use building 53 stories tall, plus six additional stories deep, can the city of Midland honestly promise that the Fire Department and Police Department could properly address a fire, medical or criminal emergency inside that tower? If the MFD and MPD need additional personnel, equipment or training, can the items be acquired without breaking current budgets? This is not rhetorical: Insurance companies will most likely reset rates for all of Midland based upon the city’s ability to protect this tower once it is built.

As stated here and previously, there are unanswered issues that need to be addressed before the city commits too much to this project. Dreaming big for a prosperous future is fine, but being pragmatic is also needed. Remaking downtown Midland into something for everyone requires more than an ego.

Josh Knight

Will those supporting the tower come forward?

Can you enlighten me why we are destroying our courthouse that is part of our history to buy a $500 million building. Has anyone asked if anyone at the city that is pushing this project is making any money off this project.

Calculate, even at 1 percent, what this runs into. I love Midland -- and I am a Midlander -- but we need to preserve our history to this city. We are so eager to destroy landmarks; remember that old house that was the Petroleum Club on Illinois and now we have a concrete parking lot. We are not Dallas or Houston; we are Midland -- a town between Dallas and El Paso that first came about because of the railroad.

I am not for this project and I wonder how many real Midlanders born here are in the group that is pushing for that new mega building. We have enough rentals downtown that are empty. I have been here in a lot of booms and busts. People come when they need work and they leave us when there is no work. Guess who is left to pay all the improvement to school and roads: the people who stay; the Midlanders who live here permanently. Please print every name of every person that is pushing this building. Thanks.